ANGRYANVIL Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 My first attempt. Not very fancy or technical, but it does its job well. Inspired from another design I saw on here (Secor's) that I really liked for its simplicity. <script type="text/javascript">//<'+'/script>');}}catch(e){};//]]></script>{b(["cloudflare/rocket"],function©{c.push(function(){(function(){pagespeed.CriticalImages.checkImageForCriticality(this);}).call(a)})})})})(this);" pagespeed_url_hash="3509212550" src="'>" /> i like these small openers. i will give some of these a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANGRYANVIL Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Got a chance to play in the forge a while back, just getting around to posting:-) nice work on the key holes. Takes a while for me to practice them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANGRYANVIL Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 I been working on a few more. Ive started to use spray on poly to help protect the finish. I find that it gives a nice gloss look and brings out the colors of the steel better. This one i left the blueing from the heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANGRYANVIL Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Of course, extensive further testing is in order, but it seems to perform quite well thus far :D. tundra, that is a cool idea for a wall opener. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANGRYANVIL Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 OK I borrowed the idea and gave it a go. Good practice shaping a point. Might make more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankySmith Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 I've tried a lot of different bottle opener styles, I make a lot of different types, but I gotta say I push aside all the nice fancy ones I make for these. I like the utter simplicity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankySmith Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Can't get the photo to upload, let me try again.... Tried three different times, won't upload. Weird, I'll try again later....sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlemilligan Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 I had a go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 I've tried a lot of different bottle opener styles, I make a lot of different types, but I gotta say I push aside all the nice fancy ones I make for these. I like the utter simplicity. Funny thing that. I have spent time making those bottle openers shine, removing stray hammer marks, linishing etc. but buyers always seem to prefer the 'straight-off-the-forge' rough look. Try again with the pics please, SS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beammeupscotty Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 Funny thing that. I have spent time making those bottle openers shine, removing stray hammer marks, linishing etc. but buyers always seem to prefer the 'straight-off-the-forge' rough look. Try again with the pics please, SS. You know, I have encountered the same thing but I refuse to comply. I still make my openers shine and to he11 with what the customer wants. The last time I was out with a booth selling stuff someone came up who wanted to buy one of a set of candleholders. It was a two day event and this was on the first day when I sold almost nothing. Even so, I still refused to sell her only one candleholder, because it was part of a set of dissimilar but intentionally paired candleholders and I didn't want to break them up. I had a vision of how they should be viewed and if someone wanted to buy the set I would have sold them in a heartbeat, but not just one. My son thought I was crazy, but then he is not a "maker". I really do like selling the things that I make, but the real reason I make them is for me. Selling them is sort of like gravy, nice, but not really necessary. I would still make stuff even if I never sold a thing and I won't sell anything that doesn't please me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 Yes, I agree with what you say. I often agonise over what is for sale and what I want to keep. I make something I like and decide to keep it, thinking I'll make another the same for sale. The thing is, the next one is either not the same or it's better, so you end up keeping them both. But like you, I make things mainly for me (or friends and family) and I don't care if I don't sell anything. Blacksmithing is not my job. I don't need to sell stuff, but people do often ask if things are for sale. So I'll make some shiny bottle openers and some 'off-the-forge' pieces as well. I think too, that people are attracted to things they see made, perfect or not. Even a simple 2-minute nail, still warm, can make a kid's day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron woodrow Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 i prefer to open my bottles with whatever is to hand ;) there are some mighty fine openers on here though :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJS Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 We have in our modern society a culture of consumers, not producers. So when normal people see someone who can actually MAKE something it is novel and interesting. In our mass produced consumer society something that doesn't look perfectly the same as all the other widgets and dodads that are produced by the millions is more visually interesting and more valuable... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3DuckDave Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 I want to thank everyone for posting their pieces, ideas, and their knowledge of how to make some amazing bottle openers!!!!!! I hope to make one at the next meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beammeupscotty Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 I have a booth at the S.F. Treasure Island Flea Market at the end of November. I sold there at the end of September, a total of about $550.00 worth of bottle openers. I am hoping to double that this month considering the proximity of Xmas. To that end I have been building up my inventory and have done a handful of new (for me) designs. I'd like to have something like 100 openers for sale, not that I expect to sell that many, but nothing looks worse than a table sparsely populated with product. Where are examples of what I have been working on in the last couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george m. Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Two questions: A. About how much time, on average, does it take you to make a bottle opener? I realize that some designs will take longer than others but there must be a rough average. B. How much do you charge for them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadi Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Here's some I make for warming up before I get to forging Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadi Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Here's some I make for warming up before I get to forging Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beammeupscotty Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Here's some I make for warming up before I get to forging Well, those are pretty sexy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beammeupscotty Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Two questions: A. About how much time, on average, does it take you to make a bottle opener? I realize that some designs will take longer than others but there must be a rough average. B. How much do you charge for them? Of those shown in this recent post, the floral ones and the skull opener take at least 2 hours. The others shown are probably 1 to 1.5 hour openers. The two hour openers I charge $65.00 for. The others I will probably ask $50.00 or $55.00 for. I have openers that sell from $20.00 to $45.00 too. Some of them are posted elsewhere in this thread. The market for these types of openers are beer geeks. Beer geeks will sometimes spend $15.00 to $18.00 on a single bottle of beer so $65.00 for a unique hand made opener that will last pretty much forever is certainly not out of the question, especially here in the Bay Area so near to San Francisco. Plenty of money around here from the dot com crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 A bottle opener from a railway spike takes me about 45 minutes - more or less, depending on how much time I spend talking to visitors. I could probably do it faster than that, but I don't like rushing. That's when you get burnt.I sell a spike bottle opener for $30 or if I have spent heaps of time polishing it, $35.Ram's head or bullock head openers take a bit longer (maybe an hour and a half) and I sell them for $45. They sell quite well so the price must be somewhere near right. If you make them too cheap you don't have any left to show, and if they're too dear you're left with all of them. I find that people like to buy the one you're working on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltowee Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Here is one of mine, I usually do the Brian Brazeal style horse head bottle openers. I'll have to consider raising the price over $20 after hearing you guys. I just wouldn't buy an opener for any more myself so I haven't asked that much. But they sell faster than I can make them here in horse country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beammeupscotty Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Here is one of mine, I usually do the Brian Brazeal style horse head bottle openers. I'll have to consider raising the price over $20 after hearing you guys. I just wouldn't buy an opener for any more myself so I haven't asked that much. But they sell faster than I can make them here in horse country. How long does it take you to make one of those horse style openers? My guess would be at least an hour. $20.00 an hour is pretty low pricing after you take into consideration materials, fuel and if you sell at some kind of show, booth fees. I won't sell a piece that takes an hour for less than $40.00 and I try to get a bit more. I am willing to take a bit less per hour on the more expensive pieces. Craft beer aficionados are the target market for expensive openers. Your average everyday customer likely would never spend much more than the $20.00 you are charging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Here is one of mine, I usually do the Brian Brazeal style horse head bottle openers. I'll have to consider raising the price over $20 after hearing you guys. I just wouldn't buy an opener for any more myself so I haven't asked that much. But they sell faster than I can make them here in horse country.Nice leaf opener. Would you post a pic of one of your horse head openers too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 These are some of the horsehead openers that I do, starting with 1/4 by 3/4 stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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